Thursday, December 30, 2010

More Food and Culture from Berlin

Our free time in Berlin was extremely limited so Jenny and I compiled a short list of places we wanted to see and things we wanted to do. First and foremost was to get some currywurst which we were able to accomplish almost immediately after leaving our hotel on day one. Next was the Jewish Museum which was educational, emotional, and quite moving. Some of the exhibits were so powerful they left us both speechless. While in the museum, it started snowing outside! It was only the first week of November and neither of us was prepared for the cold weather! The Jewish Museum is a must visit if you travel to Berlin.

The Jewish Museum

Inside The Garden of Exile

Inside The Garden of Exile

The Garden of Exile as seen from inside The Jewish Museum

The Memory Void

After spending the afternoon in the Jewish Museum, Jenny and I headed over to Potsdamer Platz in Berlin center where Winterwelt, or the Winter World Christmas Market was in full effect. The sights, sounds and smells were a treat. We started our late afternoon tour of the market with a hot cup of glühwein mitt schuss, which is hot mulled wine with a shot of rum! Now that the sun was down it was quite cold out and the glühwein warmed me up from the inside. I love glühwein!

After taking the chill off with another glass of glühwein, Jenny and I started exploring the Winter Market. The Winterwelt Christmas Market on Potsdamer Platz is such a fun place to visit. Open from the end of October to the beginning of February, Potsdamer Platz is truly transformed into a winter wonderland with an ice skating rink, a tubing hill, and lots and lots of vendors selling everything from incense to bratwurst, especially bratwurst! In the three days we were in Berlin, I must have eaten at least five or six of these delicious sausages, smothered in spicy German mustard!

All good trips must come to an end and our trip to Berlin was no exception, but it wouldn't end before one last bratwurst and one final beer, enjoyed at the airport before heading home. Another treat on our journey home included a view of the Fernsehturm Tower in Berlin, as well as the London Eye Ferris Wheel and Buckingham Palace all from out the airplane window. To view my entire photo set from Berlin, please visit my Flickr set.